Hand tool the &#34;Assist Stick&#34;

ABSTRACT

The invention of the “Assist Stick” an elongated stick with two ends, with a nail or spike with a hook at its lower end, and a grip to hold and control the stick at its upper end; as a “hand tool”, used to pick up trash has its most unique feature “the method in which it is constructed,” embedding the head of the nail or spike into the wood, then sealing it with acrylic or rubber cement; and the fact that it has “a hook” welded to the spike at the lower end of the elongated stick allowing it to serve a dual function, i.e. pulling debris from small trees of shrubbery. And the method in which it is constructed lends to its strength and durability. In the past, similar trash sticks were normally made by individuals at home, the nail was driven into the stick with a hammer, then the head of the nail would be cut or filed off causing it to be weak in application and the nail would often fall out of the stick when used.

CROSS-REFERENCE 60/200,972, Filing Date: May, 01, 2000 BACKGROUND OF THEINVENTION

[0001] The field of invention is best described as a garden “Hand Tool”specifically for picking up trash from the ground. This inventioneliminates the need to stoop down and pick up trash, reducing backstrain and reducing the expense of other tools used to pick up trash.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0002] The “Assist Stick” is a “Hand Tool” used to pick up trash fromthe ground. It is constructed from a wooden handle, such as a shovelhandle, containing two ends. The one end contains a nail or spike with ahook attached, imbedded into the handle by cutting a notch into thewood, then imbedding the nail/spike into the notch, securing saidnail/spike in place by using acrylic or liquid cement. The other end ofstick is held by the user to stab the trash in order to pick it up.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING

[0003] A close-up of the present invention can be seen in a perspectiveview in FIG. 1, showing the vertical groove or notch at the second endof the stick, and the half-inch horizontal groove or notch atop thevertical notch. The nail is shown as it would be inserted into thegroove. After the nail is inserted, the groove would then be filled withacrylic or a liquid cement compound, and covered with a plastic orrubber sleeve to hide the cut or incision. The present invention can beseen as it would appear in use in FIG. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE STRUCTURE AND USE OF THE INVENTION

[0004] The present invention is that of a newly designed “hand tool”.The hand tool of the present invention would comprise an elongatedstick, and a nail or spike. The elongated stick would have two ends, afirst end and a second end, and would have a vertical groove or notch atthe second end of the stick. The vertical groove or notch would beapproximately three and a half (3 ½″) inches long and would include ahalf inch horizontal groove located on top of the vertical groove. Thecombination of the vertical groove and the horizontal groove wouldappear analogous to that of the letter “T”.

[0005] The nail or spike of the present invention would be a standardnail or spike about 8″ in length, but would require a head on said nailor spike. The nail or spike would also have an incorporated hookattached near the pointed end of the nail or spike.

[0006] The present invention, when the two parts of the presentinvention would be combined, would be an elongated stick, approximatelythree to four feet in length, with a nail or spike attached at its lowerend that would accommodate a nail or spike with a hook. The nail orspike of the present invention would be inserted into the verticalgroove or notch at the second end of the stick, and the head of the nailwould fit into the half-inch horizontal groove or notch atop thevertical notch. After the nail is inserted, the groove would be filledwith acrylic or a liquid cement compound, and covered with a plastic orrubber sleeve to hide the cut or incision. The present invention couldalso include a protective cover, which would be held to the stick by astring, which would be placed over the point end of the nail or spikeand hook when not in use to prevent accidental injury. The presentinvention could also be manufactured to include a rubber or plastic gripat the top end of the stick.

[0007] Use of the present invention would provide the user with aconvenient and easy to use tool for picking up trash, aluminum cans, orother debris from the ground, or for plucking trash from small trees orshrubbery with minimum back strain.

[0008] A close-up of the present invention can be seen in a perspectiveview in FIG. 1 drawing. The present invention can be seen as it wouldappear in use in FIG. 2 drawing.

[0009] The present invention would be fabricated from wood and metal.The present invention, in various alternative embodiments, could bedesigned with interchangeable nails or spikes. In another alternativeembodiment, the present invention could be designed so that the groovewould be covered with a metal sleeve instead of acrylic or liquid cementto hold the nail or spike in place. The present invention, in yetanother alternative embodiment, could be designed with a walking canehandle at the top end of the stick.

[0010] In use, a user would simply use the present invention to pick uptrash, aluminum cans, or similar debris items from the ground as needed,essentially stabbing the trash with the end-mounted nail or spike or bygrabbing the trash with the hook; then placing the trash in a plasticbag and using the bag itself to pull the trash off the nail or spike.The present invention would eliminate the need to bend down when pickingup trash, greatly reducing the amount of strain placed on a person'sback.

1. What I claim as my invention is a combination of an elongated stickwith two ends, and a nail or spike with a hook at one of its ends, withthe other end being used to control the tool, for the purpose of pickingup trash from the ground.
 2. I claim that this elongated stick with thenail or spike at its lower end can be used to pick up trash from theground with a minimum amount of strain on the back.
 3. I also claim thatthe hook attached to the nail or spike at the lower end of the stick maybe used to pull trash from small trees, or shrubbery, or from underneatha vehicle.